San Francisco Labor Council endorses
Oct. 25 March on Washington

WITH EACH PASSING day, the body count in Iraq grows.
Thousands of Iraqis are being rounded up, held prisoner in
their own country, interrogated without an attorney or any
due process. Iraqi civilians who have the misfortune of
living in or driving nearby an area that's being raided by
U.S. Special Forces are being murdered in cold blood.
Every day, another U.S. family learns of the loss of a
loved one.

The war in Iraq is not over. The war and occupation will
not end unless the people of the United States rise up as
they did during the Vietnam War.

The pattern of lies, deceit and deception practiced by the
Bush administration is being exposed. The Bush
administration's approval ratings are dropping sharply as
people realize that they have been lied to. We can
mobilize this growing anger into a powerful movement that
can radically change the political climate in the country.

In the last two weeks, more than 1,500 organizations and
individuals have endorsed the October 25 International
March on Washington. A full list of endorsers can be found
at:
http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/o25/endorsers.html

Below is the resolution passed by the San Francisco Labor
Council (AFL-CIO) supporting the October 25 March on
Washington. We encourage people to introduce similar
resolutions in union locals, and district and central
labor councils, and in community and student groups and
City Councils.

RESOLUTION OF THE SAN FRANCISCO LABOR COUNCIL

-Bring the troops home now-End the occupation of Iraq-Money for human needs, not war-Repeal the Patriot Act

Whereas, the people in Iraq want the US occupation to end,
and the US soldiers in Iraq want to come home. We ask: Who
is benefiting from this war, and who is paying the price?;
and

Whereas, every day, people are dying as a consequence of
this illegal occupation ... Every day human misery expands
in the drive for world Empire and corporate globalization
... Every day, jobs are lost and vital social programs
that serve and protect working people are being looted and
destroyed, as the Bush administration cynically
manipulates the so-called "war on terrorism" to carry out
the social transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top;
and

Whereas, the Bush administration lied to the people, to
the Congress, and to the United Nations as it raced to
wage war against Iraq. Now tens of thousands of Iraqis and
many hundreds of GIs have been killed or maimed - by
Rumsfeld's count over 1000 attacks on US forces since May
1st. As the anger of the Iraqi people inevitably grows,
the body count on both sides will sharply increase; and

Whereas, as the anti-war movement predicted, the Iraqi
people view US forces as colonial occupiers, not
liberators. American soldiers are killing and being killed
in a war that serves only the interests of U.S. oil
monopolies and corporate elites - George W. Bush's real
constituents. Soldiers and their families are realizing
that high government officials, mostly millionaires who
shuttle between corporate boardrooms and government posts,
are using U.S. troops as a private security detachment for
the multinational corporations' plunder of Iraq's oil
riches; and

Whereas, the Pentagon now admits they will have 150,000
troops in Iraq for the "foreseeable future," at a cost of
nearly $4 Billion a month -- on top of the cost of
maintaining US troops and bases in 130 other countries -
and this rapid rise in the power and reach of the military
is closely linked to the unprecedented assault on the
civil rights, union rights, benefits (including veterans'
benefits), and living standards of working people going on
right now in the United States; and

Whereas, the Bush administration - which only came to
power due to massive racist disenfranchisement and voting
fraud -- has used the excuse of their "endless war" to
sponsor a wholesale assault on the Bill of Rights,
institutionalize racial profiling, assume extraordinary
powers for the Executive branch, and adopt new repressive
laws like the Patriot Act; and

Whereas, on October 25, 2003 the anti-war, civil rights,
social justice and labor movements - joined in ever
increasing numbers by family members of military personnel
and veterans and international delegations -- will march
on Washington, D.C. to demand an immediate end to the US
war and occupation in Iraq, repeal of the Patriot Act, and
money for human needs, not for war; therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the San Francisco Labor Council, AFL-CIO,
demands: 1) an immediate end to the US/British war and
occupation in Iraq - Bring the Troops Home Now; 2) repeal
of the Patriot Act and other repressive laws; 3)
reordering of national priorities toward the human needs
of our people. We need jobs and real security, not
militarism and empire-building; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the council endorse the October 25, 2003
International March on Washington, D.C. behind the banner:
Bring the Troops Home Now...End the Occupation of
Iraq...Repeal the Patriot Act...Money for Human Needs, not
for War and Empire - and will urge affiliated unions,
other labor councils, state federation and AFL-CIO to do
the same.